Tag: God’s love

My Source of Hope

what-gives-me-hopeWhat gives you hope? According to Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, it is God’s grace that gives him hope. He states: “What gives me the most hope every day is God’s grace; knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God.”

I would have to agree. Without God’s grace, I would not have the strength to fight the mental battles of anxiety and OCD, to wrestle with doubt and discouragement, to accomplish daily tasks, to embrace change, or to face life’s difficulties head-on.

“And He [Jesus] has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB) It certainly doesn’t make sense: that when we are at our weakest, it is then that we are actually at our strongest. Not because of who we are or what we can do, but because of God’s power residing within us. Realizing that we don’t need to rely on ourselves to get through each day is certainly a great cause for hope.

Have you ever read Lamentations 3? It is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. After the author of the book (probably Jeremiah the Prophet) weeps and laments profusely regarding the condition of the people of Israel, he calls to mind a truth that gives him hope.

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Because of God’s presence and His power, we can have peace. We can have hope for the future, knowing that the Lord is in control. Our heavenly Father sees our difficulties, and promises to be with us right there in the midst of them.

What is it that gives you hope?

I Make God Happy!

Today has been a good day, and I’m so thankful to God for how He has worked and for what He has enabled my family to accomplish. We loaded up a huge dumpster with construction material that was in our backyard, to hopefully start the process of making this space usable. We received so much help from family, that we were able to finish in one day what we were expecting to require a week to complete. Praise Him!

I can see His hand on me, and on my life. It’s not always glaringly obvious–on the contrary, a good amount of the time I must trust that He is with me and that He is working for good, even though I can’t see or feel it. But He spoke to me in a number of ways to encourage me today, and for this I am grateful.

The main reason I wanted to post to my blog tonight was to share what God taught me in His Word a short time ago. I will share the Scripture that I read, a few observations that I made, applications of those insights, and my prayer response to Him.

“The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17

Observations: 1) God rejoices over me with gladness and singing. 2) He will quiet me with His love!

Applications: 1) I make God happy! He loves me! 2) God’s love for me is so amazing and overwhelming that when it envelops me, I am rendered speechless.

Father, thank You for Your limitless love for me. I thank You that You love me no matter what I do or how many times I mess up. Help me to make you happy today out of my love for You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Experiencing the Love of God

We are a part of the family of God–and so we belong with Him. There is no special ticket, no need to earn or prove ourselves. For better or worse, we have His name, His love, His loyalty, His acceptance.

And because of this we can have hope. He said that He is going to build a place for us–a place to belong where we can celebrate even more in the beauty of His creation.

So often, we want to please God so we seek to keep a list of holy rules or behaviors.

We strive and work and fret in our Christian life to do “God’s will.”

The truth is, we cannot do the will of God until we know and experience the love of God.

Accepting and living within this sweet comfort and security is the place we will find the strength to live our lives well in a fallen world.”

~Excerpt from You Are Loved — Embracing the Everlasting Love God has for You, by Sally Clarkson and Angela Perritt

What do YOU think?

You Are Loved